Things to consider about golf shafts

    I have often heard golfers say that the shaft is the "engine " of the golf club. Actually the shaft is more like the "transmission" of the golf club. It connects the player's hands to the clubhead, and allows the golfer to transfer his power to the clubhead, and thus, to the golf ball. Players who like to say the shaft is the engine of the golf club often come to this conclusion when experiencing shot improvement after making a shaft change.

   In regards to the importance of the shaft to the performance of golf clubs here are three factors to consider:

1. The weight of the shaft is important to all golfers because the shaft weight determines what the overall weight of the club will be. The weight of the shaft influences how much headweight is required to produce a particular feeling of the clubhead during the swing.
    Most golfers believe a lighter shaft will increase clubhead speed resulting in more distance. It is true a lighter shaft may increase clubhead speed, but this doesn't mean all players using a lighter shaft will experience an increase in distance. To do that the lighter total weight must be matched to the golfers timing and tempo so that they can hit the ball on center the highest percentage of time. Hitting the ball off center with higher clubhead speeds results in less distance compared with a slightly slower clubhead speed with more on center hits.

2. The flex and bend point of the shaft can contribute to launch angle and spin rate, but only for players who possess a late release of their wrist on the downswing. For the majority of golfers who unhinge their wrists early or in the first half of the downswing the shaft won't display any real difference in launch angle of spin rate. 

3. Most experienced golfers, not just tour players, have an inherent sense of feel regarding shafts. When players sense the shaft is too stiff, they tend to swing harder - and when the shaft is too flexible, they try to ease up. In both cases these swing adjustments are an attempt to make the shaft feel right for them. In either case the shot results are not very good. This is the classic example of a player adjusting his swing to the club rather than having the club built to his particular swing.